Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Laterals Heard Round the World. Division III college football game between Trinity and Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss.



7 comments:

  1. That's a good one, you can see the ball, and the amazing thing is the ball handling, (and, of course the faking and reverse field running throughout) we all tried it on the sandlot and never got that far, but usually when it's tried in college it doesn't come close:
    13 - 15 laterals done perfectly!
    Holy Trinity, Batman!

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  2. The excited announcer: "That was one of the most miraculous plays in all of college football."

    Yes, it was...:)

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  3. We have a name for that kinda game...

    Rugby. That sort of ball handling is easy for rugby players, and there's no stop in the action. In terms of fitness, the rugby players may be shorter on sheer speed, but they make up for it in stamina, while strength is about par.

    I wonder how gridiron football players will fare if they convert to playing rugby, and vice versa. I suspect the rugby players will revel in being able to block legally, while gridiron football players will find the scrum great fun...

    Also wonder if more gridiron football coaches will cross train their players in rugby, and run rugby style plays to confuse the heck out of opposing teams, or to exhaust them.

    You would notice that in the video, the Millsap players ran out of steam constantly running towards the ball, which is what they were trained to do, but suicide in rugby and soccer, which demands a lot of situational awareness of opponent positions and passing angles.

    Meanwhile, the Trinity players could conserve more energy by simply passing it around and using one man to draw several defenders towards him before passing. And then when the defenders are dead on their feet, unleash the killer punch.

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  4. Thanks Wobbly. Very interesting analysis. i really enjoyed it.

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  5. Likewise:
    "You would notice that in the video, the Millsap players ran out of steam constantly running towards the ball, which is what they were trained to do, but suicide in rugby and soccer, which demands a lot of situational awareness of opponent positions and passing angles."
    ---
    Indeed, easy to comment on the blogs about dogging it, but those folks don't know what it feels like to REALLY run out of wind from running around WAY more than the offense.
    (Maybe basketball is another example? Sure was for me!)
    Great insight from a different perspective.

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  6. Great analysis, Wobbly. That's got to be the oddest play I have ever seen. Beats by a long shot the time when one of our guys picked up the fumble and ran it back 80 yards to the wrong goal line!

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